Myrnin Vs Shane
by VickiELL
Summary: well all summed up in the title really, Claire is going to choose, Shane or Myrnin...Hot love of her life with a foul temper or  crazy insane handsome  but charming  vampire? hmm...we'll see what happens...
1. Chapter 1

**THIS IS JUST SOMETHING I'VE BEEN MESSING AROUND WITH AND ITS MY FIRST ONE I'VE POSTED ON HERE, SO PLEASE BE GENTLE WITH ME. AND ALL RIGHTS GO TO RACHEL CAINE, HER BOOKS ARE AMAZING! HOPE YOU ENJOY. Please review.**

Claire flung her books on Quantum physics and intermolecular chemistry into her worn out back pack. Damn she needed a new one so bad, but she just couldn't bear to part with it, they'd been through so much together, stupid she knew.

She flew out of her bedroom, not bothering to shut the door and raced down the stairs, her feet banging each wooden step with echoing booms.

"Hey, dude! We have neighbours in Africa you know!" Yelled Shane. God, how could he joke so early in the morning, and even though it was 6:00am she was still, inevitably, late.

"Yeah well why should they get to sleep in, when some of us have to work?" She panted quickly grabbing a cold pop tart from the cupboard in the kitchen, racing back through the living room, where Shane was sprawled on the sofa, his hair gorgeously messed up and eyes sparkling with amusement. He'd obviously fallen asleep on the Xbox, playing those zombie game she loved so much, again last night.

"Why are you going now? Classes don't start 'til half eight right?" He questioned while yawning widely and arching his back and his muscular arms above his head, stretching.

Claire hesitated slightly, she knew how Shane felt about her working for Myrnin, ever since he'd got this crazy idea that _Myrnin _had _feelings_ for her, just 'cos he'd saved her life from Bishop a couple of months ago. Claire knew better, Myrnin always had reasons for doing the things he did, normally to save his own skin; he never would have intervened if there was no benefit to him. She just hadn't figured out what that benefit was yet.

Shane noticed her hesitation and she saw annoyance flicker across his face and he rolled his eyes. "Oh. You're working with _him _this morning aren't you?" He kicked the blanket off his legs and strode into the kitchen and she heard him flick the switch on the coffee machine, uh-oh, needing caffeine for Shane meant he was working up to a fight, and she couldn't deal with this now, Myrnin was going to kill her, or eat her, one or the other if she was even a minute late.

She sighed dramatically, "You can air your opinions later, but right now I'm late. I'll see you later." She grabbed her house keys out of the tray next to the door and stopped her hand on the door knob. "Shane?" She called.

There was a pause, but then a moody sounding "what?" from Shane.

"I Love you." She called to him, then slamming the door behind her and racing down the front steps in the rising sun, not waiting for a reply. She was _just_ safe to go out now, the Vamps couldn't deal with sunlight, even the older ones couldn't have prolonged exposure, otherwise they'd start to crisp up like batter in oil.

So Claire ran the good half a mile to Myrnin's "Lair" as Eve likes to call it. Normally she would've taken the portal, but Myrnin out of some weird anciently preserved etiquette found it "rude and invasive".

She clambered down the metal stairs and gazed around at the lab, her mouth dropping open in shock and anger.

"Myrnin!" She yelled.

"Yes, my dear Claire? I would appreciate it if you kept your voice down Shelly is sleeping." Myrnin appeared out of nowhere, directly in front of her on the stairs one of his fingers lightly touching her mouth.

"Another one? Myrnin you already have like five spiders! How the hell did you get the lab so messy? I tidied it _two_ days ago! It took me seven hours!" She whispered furiously. Gazing around at the lab again, the books were piled in massive towers, some nearly touching the ceiling, looking just about ready to collapse, when they were supposed to be in the bookcase which ran around the entire edge of the room floor to ceiling, even with a neat, handy ladder that swung around. The metal tables were covered in weird; freaky; uniquely Myrnin-looking contraptions, wires sprouting everywhere, vials and flasks glowing with colours she'd never seen before, and there was glass everywhere!

"Yes, well I prefer it like this. More homely don't you think? All that light reflecting off the tables was hurting my eyes." He said in his annoyingly rational voice. She took a moment to look him over, he was looking weirdly normal today, his outfit consisting of Hawaiian themed surfer shorts, and a plain black top, the only thing that ruined it was the bunny slippers… with fangs, and the bright yellow blazer he wore over it, but still, normal for Myrnin.

She sighed and edged past him towards the centre of the lab, avoiding as much of the glass as possible but there was still a constant crunching under her feet.

"I don't know why I bother, to be honest you should be the one tidying now, after all I'm _your _boss now remember?" Amelie had made the really unusual announcement just after Bishops latest take over plan.

She felt a gust of wind behind her and Myrnins cold breath on her neck.

"If that is so Little Claire, please feel free to _boss_ me around." He said in a challenging voice with a tiny undercurrent of menace, he always hated it when she bought this up, he was the one who loved being in control.

She swallowed nervously and turned to face Myrnin "For starters you can stop all this crazy vamp shit, it's really starting to bore me." She said to his face, she saw the flicker of anger behind his eyes and was worried she was pushing to far, she hadn't had a chance to assess his mood yet. But it suddenly disappeared replace by an almost fond smile. It suited him actually, softened his features and made him look almost…human.

"My darling little Claire, I do so love your honest nature" He said softly and raised his hand to move her hair back behind her ear after a lock had fallen stray. "But sometimes, I fear, you do not take me as seriously as you used to. Do not respect me as much. I hope you don't think because of Amelies unexpected promotion, you are in any way above me. Vampires will always be above mere humans in Morganville, you know that." He said this in the exact same soothing tone, which only added to the menacing atmosphere.

"You know I don't think that, I like to think of us as being equal now-" Myrnin cut her off with a barking laugh, Which sent shoots of irritation through Claire.

"Equal? How naïve of you to think such a thing, I will always be above you Claire and it is about time you accepted that. I do, however, owe you at least a smidgen of respect as you have helped me many a times, but never think you are safe from me. No one is safe from me. Not even… Ada…" His voice fades towards the end of his speech and his eyes seem distant as if he's watching a lost, suddenly recovered memory.

Claire stepped out of Myrnins line of fire and heads towards the big wooden door at the other end of the room; she plucks the key of its hook and unbolts the door, opening it to reveal an expanse of darkness. The portal. She pictures the school library in her mind, the endless shelves of books, the constant bustle of students shuffling' attempting to be silent and the stern eyed librarian behind her wooden desk, and she feel the slight pop in her mind as the portal shifted to the right frequency.

"Obviously, you don't need me this morning so I'll see you tomorrow" she said to Myrnin while walking through the portal into the deserted library. "Maybe you'll of stopped being such an up-himself old man by then." She murmured to herself after shutting the portal.

She glanced at her watch realising it was only 7:00am; she sighed and flung her backpack onto the nearest table. _Well I have an hour to kill so might as well study_ she thought. She pulled out the ancient book on alchemy she'd found in Myrnins lab when she was tidying the other day and began to read.


	2. Chapter 2

**BTW THIS STORY IS SUPPOSED TO BE BASED AFTER GHOST TOWN, BUT SOME BITS MIGHT BE OFF SO SORRY! ENJOY! Please review if you have time thank you!**

Claire screamed after glancing at the library clock "What is wrong with me at the moment?" she growled to herself. She'd finished all her classes for the day and decided to finish reading the alchemy book she'd got from Myrnin's Lab before heading home, but she'd fallen asleep like an idiot, face planted on her book, probably drooling.

She headed through the schools assortment of corridors heading for the west exit, which took her straight by common grounds and back home, but Claire got a nasty shock when she opened the swinging metal door.

It was dark.

"Damn." She gasped.

What was she going to do now! She couldn't walk home, all _three_ of her housemates would be mad, never mind just Shane. How did it get so late! She must have slept for at least 2 hours, how does someone do that in such a public place, without being woken up!

She sighed, rummaging through her backpack for her mobile phone, a newly issued model given to her by Amelie, God forbid she'd already had her old one for 3 months. Shocker. She speed dialled Detective Hess, him now being the only contact available as a night time chaperone. But, obviously, it went straight to voicemail. She hung up in the middle of his message, advertising his late night shift.

Great. Now she was out of options, Shane was still at work at The Grill; Michael had the newly built town studio room booked for tonight, it was a Monday, he did this every Monday and of course Eve's phone had died of natural causes a couple of weeks ago. Typical. Normally any deaths in this town are related to the Vamps, but no, this time her old friend, Science, was playing a nasty, mean trick on her.

She stood on the TPU steps, unconsciously tapping her bottom lip repeatedly with her phone, her eyes trailing the campus for any bulging shadows that seemed out of place; as they always seemed to contain a hungry vampire. Especially at the university. Claire had discovered, when she first got here, that the Vamps got free reign on a certain percentage of students every year. Of course she did have Amelie's bracelet, but that didn't mean a lot to the Vamps now-a-days, considering Amelie now had joint leadership with Oliver and the whole protection scheme seemed to be in complete havoc after all the recent "problems" in Morganville.

Then it came to her. Myrnin. He would probably come to the university to escort her home if she promised to let him take the reins for the next week or so. No vampire would dare start on Myrnin, he was well known for his crazy, unpredictable temperament and of course he was very old, and would therefore be able take down most of Morganville Vamps in a one-on-one fight, if it came down to it.

She dialled Myrnins mobile number, praying he hadn't boiled it by accident or left it in the bottom of a random flask, which was probably bubbling away with all kinds of corrosive crap on top of it by now. Just when she was about to give up, after several long tones, Claire heard Myrnin's familiar drawl on the other end of the phone.

"Claire! What a delight, I have to say I've been thinking about you all day, you just left me this morning without a word of goodbye" He chanted accusingly.

"All day? Don't you have better things to do?" Claire challenged. What was she doing bantering with him? She needed his help. "Look, Myrnin, I'm at the university and I need you to escort me back home. Please" She added as an afterthought, remembering the way he reacted this morning to being ordered around.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not your own private taxi service Claire, why not call that plump police officer you're so fond off, doesn't he normally play the role of chauffeur for you and your dear friends? I am rather busy you know." He ranted in a disinterested tone.

"I've tried him, he's on duty tonight. Myrnin please. Amelie wouldn't be too happy if she knew I'd begged for your help after I've been mauled by some rogue vamp and you'd refused, would she?" Okay, so I was being sly, Myrnin always had a thing for obeying Amelie, even when it came to making work on the stupid town defences for three whole days with no sleep. Not a wink. It nearly killed me.

"Do not threaten me Claire. I do not take kindly to threats." He responded quietly.

"Argh! Myrnin please! Why are you being so difficult? It'll take you 20 minutes max for God's sake." I nearly yelled at him.

"I do not see why we have to bring God into this Claire. But very well, I shall be there in a minute or two." He hung up, leaving me sighing at the dial tone in my ear.

I still don't think I'll ever understand Myrnin. I'd worked for him for over a year now and still his moods were a mystery to me. Myrnin had taken the cure just like every other vampire in Morganville. The disease which deteriorated their mental state into nothing more than savage vegetables was all but wiped out, and to be honest Claire had accepted a while ago that maybe Myrnin had just been more crazy than the average Vamp all along (which was a hell of a lot of crazy). If he was human he'd probably be in one of those castle-like mental asylums you see on those crappy horror films, wrapped up in a grimy straight jacket in a padded cell by now.

"BOO!" shouted a loud voice suddenly right next to my ear, causing me to jump at least a foot in the air screaming like a banshee.

I frowned at Myrnin who was bent over double laughing his heart out. "Oh what a reaction! Have you never noticed Claire darling that humans tend to jump higher when they know something is coming. I saw the most hilarious thing the other day, this old woman was watching her microwave, straight away I knew what was going to happen, and my Lord did she-" Oh dear, he was in one of his high moods, these could be just as bad as when he was in an extreme depression, the worst was when he begged me to end his life. This mood though was the most unpredictable of all.

Claire really didn't care whether Myrnin spent all day; watching soaps or spent his time stalking ladies in their kitchens, but he always insisted on telling her the most stupid anecdotes.

"Myrnin! Can we go now? Please. My friends are going to be worried enough as it is, I don't want to get home to an organised search party."

Myrnin straightened up, all the laughter gone from his eyes. "Ah, yes and I suppose these _friends_ you mention include that pathetic excuse of a boyfriend of yours?" He jabbed at me, while leading the way down the steps and into the night towards common grounds.

"Don't start Myrnin. You have no right to say that about Shane, just because he shot you doesn't mean you have to be an asshole to him all the time. He was trying to help." She said shooting a scathing look at him.

"Yes. Of course _all_ his motives were focused on trying to _help_" He said mockingly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Claire demanded, trying to catch up with him. We were walking past Common grounds now, officially shut for the night. Seeing the small coffee shop so empty, looked plain wrong, I was used to the sight of students filing endlessly in and out of the doors, fighting over chairs and socket spaces for laptops. But now it made Morganville seem eerily quiet. Claire hurried past now level with Myrnin brushing his arm as she fell into step with him.

He glanced sideways at her, raising his eyebrow slightly. They walked under the streetlamps in silence, nearly home now.

"This reminds me of a night about ninety years ago with Ada." He murmured into the night, my breath was forming into little condensation clouds infront of us, but nothing came from Myrnin.

"Why?" She asked in shocked response. Quite surprised that Myrnin was willingly mentioning Ada. That was twice in one day he'd brought her up. Oh God, she hoped he wasn't thinking of trying to bring her back _again._ Myrnin had been unquestionably in love with Ada, a fact he frequently admitted too, enough so that after he'd accidently killed her, he resurrected her in the form of a machine that manifested as a sort of spectral image, and she basically ran Morganville. After Ada had been destroyed Myrnin temporarily lost his mind becoming the vampire of people's nightmares and had nearly killed Claire more than once.

"It was just like this. The moon was half full and we were walking under the street lamps hand-in-hand. A midnight stroll I think they are called. Obviously we walked outside at night, not during the day, Ada loved it. I think it made her feel like a more normal couple, I could tell she missed some parts of being human." Myrnin was sounded weirdly sane right now, hearing him talk about love was always odd, as he constantly criticised her feelings for Shane and ridiculed classic romance novels like Pride and Prejudiced.

"Well don't you? Miss parts of being human I mean?" Claire asked genuinely curious. There were so many things humans could do that vampires could not, walk in the sun being the prime example, many vampires missed that.

"Not really." He answered abruptly, returning to the snappy Myrnin. What the hell.

"Really? Absolutely nothing?" Claire enquired, scepticism filling her voice. "What about the sun and flowers and-" Claire was interrupted by Myrnin abruptly bring his fingers up to her mouth to quieten her.

"No, my dear Claire. I have replaced the Sun with the stars, which just about equal it's beauty, and flowers? What sort of poetic nonsense is that! Why would I fret over my existence because of poxy flowers! The only thing, I think, I regret not having…is a _beating_ heart." He looked into her eyes with so much sincerity, she almost felt like she wanted to give him a hug. Almost. Not quite. "I miss not feeling my heart quicken when I run, or feel adrenaline being forced through my veins in a fight, being able to tell if a woman really moves me, or if I'm just being whimsical, now it's a constant emptiness, and sometimes I feel an ache as if it would beat again if it could.". Claire blinked a few times to clear her head. Myrnin had never talked like this before. Never sounded so _human_ before . It made her see him slightly differently.

Myrnin was lonely. Lonelier than anyone she'd ever known.

And it was so sad.

Myrnin moved a stray lock of hair from Claire's face, placing it back in its rightful place with a gentle flick, keeping his cold hand resting on her cheek. Then he did something which startled Claire more than his loud exclamation on TPU stairs, he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Beautiful Claire. You shine brighter than anyone I've ever known you know. _So _much brighter." He murmured so quietly she barely caught his words.

The silence that followed was so perfect, she heard her own shallow breathing as loud as if she'd just ran a marathon, staring confused into Myrnins green eyes. Which seemed to be getting gradually closer and closer, as if she was being drawn in to their emerald depths.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I hope its okay, thank you for your reviews by the way guys, the nice comments really cheered me up after a bad day :D**

Claire realised what was happening moments before Myrnins lips were going to touch hers. She turned her head sharply out of Myrnins palm letting out a small gasp, she could feel her eyes wide in her head, confused and dazed at what was just about to happen. She abruptly turned towards the glasshouse which was only a few houses away by now and ran. Straight through the rickety metal gate and up the stone steps, clumsily grasping for her key in her bag, her hands shaking so bad it took her a few tries to unlock the door.

She slammed the heavy wooden door shut behind her and braced her back against it, closing her eyes and catching her breath. When she felt that she was able to breath properly again, but even so was no less shaky, she flung her keys into the pot beside Eves with her gothic key rings and turned to head up to her room. Only to be greeted by three pairs of eyes, one set looking relieved another looking mightily pissed off and a final pair, Shanes was filled with both, in equal measures, she took a startled step back. The moment she looked at Shane she felt an involuntary flush spread across her cheeks as the events of what had happened outside sunk in. She had nearly cheated on Shane. With Myrnin of all people. What was she playing at? She _loved_ Shane.

"Where have you been?" Yelled Shane striding towards her, grasping both of her upper arms and shaking her slightly. "We've been worried sick! No phone call, No note, Not even a damn voice mail!" He yelled at her, and she cringed back slightly, and saw that she was going to get no help or sympathy form Eve or Michael, both of whom just stared at her with a solemn disappointment.

"Seriously Claire, how many times do we have to tell you, at least call to tell us you're alright, you could be dead in a fang-filled ditch by now and we wouldn't know" pleaded Eve, looking really hurt but also relieved.

Claire sighed "I'm sorry you guys, I really am, I fell asleep in the library, don't ask me how, I don't even know how I managed it, and when I woke up it was pitch black outside! I thought you were at work, and I'm sure you had the studio tonight?" She glared accusingly at Michael, still unable to make eye contact with Shane.

"Well I did! Until Eve rang me up scared that something had happened to you 'cos you hadn't come home." Michael chided me.

"Oh. Well I'm sorry I made you all worry, it won't happen again, I swear, it was honestly a complete accident." She pleaded with them to believe her.

Eve looked at her for a few seconds and then smiled a small smile and hugged her, moving Shane backwards. "Look we're not mad at you Claire Bear, well, maybe just a little bit" She smirked winking at me, "we just worry about you and to be honest, most of the times you haven't come back at night you _have_ been buried neck deep in some Leech trouble, excuse the pun and we've had to come to that rescue like that Buffy chick you always compare me too." She smiled apologetically at Michael for the derogatory term of his kind, even though he would never take serious offence to it coming from Eve.

Michael smiled back and came and hugged Claire too, and the moment he touched her she felt him stiffen slightly. "How did you get home by the way? Please tell me you didn't walk on your own?" He tilted her chin up she could see his frown.

"Don't be stupid. I may not be a Morganville native but I've lived here long enough not to be completely ignorant. I got a lift from Detective Hess." She answered automatically, hating herself for how easily the lie came.

Michael looked at her through narrowed eyes for a couple of seconds and then finally released her, "Okay, well I'm going to go to bed, I'm exhausted." He got halfway up the stairs and caught Eve's eye giving his head a suggestive little nod towards his room, a small smile playing around his lips and a matching one was plastered on Eve's face.

"Can't be that tired then" I murmured. Earning myself a cheesy grin and wink off Eve before she lamely announced how tired she was too.

"Where have you actually been then?" Shane suddenly asked, causing her to shoot him a startled glance her mouth falling open slightly, _great, subtle Claire, nice going _she mentally chided herself. He stood a metre away from her, staring at her steadily as if judging her reaction.

"In the school library. I just told you." She insisted, after all it was actually true.

"I'm not stupid Claire." He spat out at her. "You haven't looked at me once since you got back, you focused all your attention on Michael and Eve, which means you're trying to hide something, 'cos I'm the only one who knows you well enough to tell when you're lying." Shane accused her.

"What? I'm not lying. Why would I lie about something as stupid as that! I fell asleep in the damn library why can't you just accept that. What the fuck else would I have been doing?" She screamed at him, turning sharply on her heel and dashing up to her room, slamming her door for good measure. She stood in the centre of the room for a moment, hurt that Shane had immediately accused her of lying. And then the guilt came. She'd just had a go at him when he wasn't the one in the wrong. _She_ was. She took all my frustrations out on him when he was just worried about her.

And the worst part was, she had been lying. Kind of.


End file.
